Staff

ABOUT OUR PRESIDENT & CEO
Anita Huberman has been the President & CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade for 17 years for one of the top 10 Boards of Trade/Chambers of Commerce in Canada, and for one of the largest cities in Canada. She has been with the Surrey Board of Trade in a variety of roles for 30 years. Anita and her team serve more than 6,000 member contacts.

In 2022, Anita won SFU’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
In 2021, she was announced as being 1 of 15 Outstanding Canadians for her work in the private sector and through the pandemic.

She is an Honorary Captain of the Royal Canadian Navy (appointed by Canada’s Minister of National Defence, just re-appointed for her third term till 2024), holds the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, was a Business in Vancouver Top 40 Under 40 award winner, awarded the 2019 Surrey Community Builder of the Year and received a Canada 150 Community Medal.

She serves on the Board of Directors for the Forum for International Trade Training (FITT), Premier’s Economic Task Force, BC Economic Development Minister Industry Engagement Table, SFU President’s Advisory Council, SFU India Advisory Council, KPU Business Program Advisory Committee, OMNI TV Advisory Council, Destination BC Advisory Council, Director for IC-Impacts Research Centre of Excellence (for improving the lives of people in India and Canada, particularly in First Nations communities). Anita also served as a Trustee of Canada’s National Film Board for six years, appointed by Canada’s Minister of Heritage.
Anita is a highly visible advocate for Surrey businesses at all levels of government with a demonstrated history of evolving, reinvigorating and transforming civic, business & social organization industries.

In March 2020, the President of the World Health Organization said that it would be the Board of Trade/Chamber of Commerce industry that will support business through this pandemic. Reflected in our results this past year and now as we consider the transformational change that we are facing for our economy and our business community, the Surrey Board of Trade has proven that we are there for business – supporting them in their diverse needs through our diversified service portfolio. Our fiscal strength built over my 16 year tenure as CEO, helped support the Surrey Board of Trade in our time of need during the pandemic – when as I was the last person to lock the door on March 17 – we had no idea what the future held and what the future still holds.

All staff and I invoked ground zero principles – being the concierge of connections to government and stakeholders – fielding and responding to businesses and organizations. I remember sometimes fielding calls on government support programs till well into the night in the first three months of the pandemic.

The Surrey Board of Trade has had an upward trend of growth for fiscal, membership, profile and projects to benefit not only Surrey, but also the province and nation. And yes, we’ve had some fiscal challenges in this pandemic year.

But I am here to tell you that the Surrey Board of Trade is and will continue to be Surrey’s city-building business organization. Our direct connections to the Prime Minister’s office, the SBOT being one of 9 organizations on the Premier’s Economic Recovery Task Force, our Surrey Economic Recovery Coalition having direct contact to the City of Surrey means that members continue to receive value. Our ability to instigate change at all levels of government, to responsibly issue policy change (even when some don’t agree) has been instrumental to helping members and the business community. The Surrey Board of Trade delivered Surrey’s first Labour Market Study and Workforce Strategy till 2029.

My amazing Staff work with me every day to bring in new initiatives for the benefit and value to our members, to our city, to our nation. I, and my team have positive passion and dedication, each and every day focused on supporting and attracting business.

For the Surrey Board of Trade, as a not for profit organization, financial support is derived solely from membership fees, events & sponsorship and service contracts. I run this organization as a business – we can’t go into a loss and we need to watch our expenses and save for future unknown expenses or capital investments.

Thank you to our members and sponsors for your ongoing support of the Surrey Board of Trade, Surrey’s non-partisan, city-building business organization.

In 2019, our national chamber of commerce recognized the Surrey Board of Trade as being in the top 3 in Canada for our government advocacy. I won the Community Builder of the Year Award, from the Surrey Now-Leader Media Group. We released the first Surrey Labour Market Study and Workforce Strategy, hosted high profile keynote speakers, elevated the Surrey International Trade Centre portfolio and continued being the destination for business support and business attraction. The Surrey Board of Trade speaks for the business community at public hearings and to the media. It is a recognized voice of business. Again, we received extensive media coverage from local and national media.